In what spirit do you receive confessions from your Christian siblings? Do you ever judge them more or less harshly due to a different type of sin from what you've known personally? The playing field was leveled at the cross.

There are occupational hazards in being a Pastor. Let me mention two of them. One of them is that while people expect you to be pious, you can come across as a little too pious at times -- like the lady who came to a pastor at the end of a service, and was very effusive in her gratitude. She said, "That was the most wonderful sermon I've ever heard. That was absolutely fantastic! It was so powerful, it has changed my life!"

Nineteenth in a series 1 Corinthians 12:4-7
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of th

1 Corinthians 2:12-13
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those w

While I was a seminary student, I was pastor of a small rural church. I struggled each week to prepare and deliver sermons that would provide spiritual nourishment for that little congregation. At the time, I attributed this struggle to a number of factors: lack of experience, the 75 mile commute that...

Acts 2
It recently came to my attention that there are more than 800 churches in the city of Cleveland, and if you were to consider the whole of Cuyahoga County that number increases to over 1200. Last week while driving along Kinsman Ave. from 55th St. to 154th St. I counted 45 churches along...

John 3:1-9
Confession, they say, is good for the soul. Maybe that goes for pastors too.
So, let me make a confession. You're probably waiting with bated breath. You're wondering what salacious sin a pastor would...

The Continuing Fullness of the Holy Spirit
Third in a Series on the Three-fold Secret of the Holy Spirit
John 15:4
Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unles

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